Richard "Steve" Ritchie

Phantom Pilot, Vietnam Ace, MiG Killer

The only U.S. Air Force pilot ace of the
Vietnam War, Capt. Steve Ritchie destroyed five MiG-21s during
Operation Linebacker in 1972. Born June 25, 1942 in Reidsville, NC, he was a star
quarterback in high school. At the U. S. Air Force Academy, he
continued playing football, as starting halfback for the Falcons in
1962 and 1963.

Graduating from the Academy in 1964, Ritchie finished number one in
his pilot training class.

After a stint at Flight Test Operations at
Eglin AFB, Florida, he began flying the F-4 Phantom II, in preparation
for his first tour in Southeast Asia.

Assigned to the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Danang Air Base,
South Vietnam in 1968, Ritchie flew the first "Fast FAC" mission in the
F-4 forward air controller program and was instrumental in the spread
and success of the program. Returning from Southeast Asia in 1969, he
reported to the Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada, where at 26 years of age, he became one of the youngest
instructors in the history of the school.

Ritchie volunteered for a second combat tour in January 1972 and was
assigned to the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Udorn, Thailand.
Flying an F-4D with the famed 555th ("Triple Nickel") Tactical Fighter
Squadron he joined the ranks of the MiG killers when he downed a MiG-21
on 10 May, one of several Air Force aerial victories that day. He
scored a second victory on 31 May, another MiG-21. A classic
low-altitude dog fight on 8 July tied Robins Olds' five-year-old
Southeast Asia record as two more MG-21s fell to his Sparrow missiles.
Then, on 28 August, came the mission that propelled Steve Ritchie into
the record books. Leading Buick Flight, four F-4D Phantoms performing
Air MiG CAP ( Combat Air Patrol) north of Hanoi, it was Ritchie's job
to protect the Strike Force coming in from the Southwest to hit the
Thai-Nguyen steel plant.

May 10, 1972

This section written by Tom Cooper, Air Combat Information Group website

During the early morning of May 10th 1972 the US readied the first
large air strikes against North Vietnam in what became Operation
Linebacker II. These attacks caused several large clashes between US
aircraft and North Vietnamese interceptors during the Vietnam War. The
first strike on that day was launched by aircraft carriers USS
Constellation, USS Coral Sea and USS Kitty Hawk against
targets in Haiphong area at 08:00 AM. Hardly one hour later no less
than 84 Phantoms and five F-105Gs of the USAF, supported by 20 KC-135
tankers and a SAR group of three helicopters, four A-1s and four
Phantoms, closed on North Vietnam crossing northern Thailand and Laos.
The vanguard of this attack force comprised eight F-4D Phantoms, armed
for air-to-air combat, the Oyster and Balter flights, whose main task
was to patrol areas around known North Vietnamese airfields and
intercept any MiGs which would try to attack the main American
formation. The whole operation was closely controlled by an EC-121
radar picket plane, which operated over Laos, and the cruiser USS
Chicago, underway in the Gulf of Tonkin and operating under the
call-sign Red Crown.

Already during the air refueling over Thailand the cutting edge of
the initial fighter sweep had been blunted. Balter 2 had electrical
problems, Balter 3 was unable to refuel; both had to return to Udorn.
Oyster 4, (flown by Lt. Feezel and Capt. Pettit) suffered a radar
failure but its crew decided to continue the mission. Balter 1 and 4
joined up as an element and continued northeast, as did the four
aircraft of Oyster flight. The fighter sweep had been devised by Major
Bob Lodge, Oyster flight leader, an experienced air fighting tactician
with two MiG kills to his credit. These two flights of Phantoms were to
establish a barrier patrol northwest of Hanoi, Oyster flight at low
altitude and Balter flight behind it at 22.000 feet in full view of the
enemy. Any MiG moving against Balter flight would fly over the Oyster
flight waiting in ambush.

The shadowboxing began at 09:42 AM, when North Vietnamese fighters
flew into action. Two minutes later, two MiG-21s of 921 FR took off
from Noi Bai, turning toward Tuyen Quang to decoy the Americans. At the
same time four J-6s of the 1st Flight (#1 Nguyen Ngoc Tiep, #2 Nguyen
Hong Son, #3 Pham Hung Son and #4 Nguyen Duc Tiem) of the 925 FR were
scrambled as well. Unknown to either Red Crown or to crews of US
fighters, two MiG-21s turned straight toward the Oyster flight, covered
by four low flying J-6s.

Immediately Red Crown informed the Oyster flight: „Multiple bandits
in your area. I hold a Bandit at three-four-zero at twenty-four. The
closest bandit I hold is zero-two-two at sixteen." Running in at 15.000
feet the MiG-21s closed rapidly, joining with four J-6s in the process,
and Balter flight edged toward Oyster to provide top cover. Lodge
turned his flight to meet the MiGs nearly nose-on, jettisoning their
external tanks and arming AIM-7 Sparrows (except Feezel, whose radar
failed). The radars were locked on and at 13nm (24km) a warning light
in the cockpit of Oyster 1 flashed, indicating that the hostile
aircraft were within range. In Oyster 3 Chuck DeBellevue picked up a
MiG IFF transmission on his Combat Tree equipment and informed his
pilot that he had a positive hostile identification on the planes in
front. Clipped instructions in Oyster 1 and 2 followed, as back-seaters
locked on their radars and made the final switching for a head-on
attack. The allowable steering error on the radar display began to
contract and at 8nm (13km) Lodge launched his first Sparrow at the
leading MiG element.

Trailing a plume of white smoke, it accelerated out in front and
began tracking upwards at a shallow angle, but detonated when its motor
burned out. With range now down to 6nm (10km) Major Lodge fired a
second Sparrow which launched successfully and tracked upwards at a 20
degree angle. It left a contrail and then came the flash of the
detonation. A few seconds later a MiG-21 fell out of sky, trailing fire
and missing its left wing. Lt. John Markle in Oyster 2 also fired a
pair of Sparrows and his second missile started tracking upwards and
slightly to the right. As Markle watched, the big missile pulled lead
and flew right into North Vietnamese plane, causing another yellow
explosion.

As it seems, the second Sparrow fired by Major Lodge hit the MiG-21
wingman, while the second Sparrow destroyed the J-6 of Nguyen Hong Son,
who ejected but later died of his injuries. At about this point,
remaining two North Vietnamese flashed over the top of Oyster Flights 1
and 2, the leading MiG-21 narrowly missing collision with Oyster
Leader. Major Lodge instinctively pulled hard up to the right in an
oblique half loop which brought him right 200ft (60m) behind the MiG.
Lodge was now too close for a missile attack, and his Phantom was not
equipped with guns. But he eased off his turn and the enemy fighter’s
range was opening. The combat was going well for Oyster flight when,
suddenly, the tables were turned. Zooming up from below came the J-6s.
While pilots of Oyster flight identified only four North Vietnamese
fighters, while there were, in fact, six of them. After their #4 was
shot down, other J-6s of the 1st Flight of the 925 FR reversed and Pham
Hung Son, followed closely by Nguyen Duc Tiem curved behind Lodge’s F-4
as Markle, to the left of his leader and in no position to engage
Vietnamese, shouted a warning: „OK, there’s a bandit...you got a bandit
in your ten o’clock, Bob, level!"

Major Lodge thought that the MiG-21 in front of him had opened the
range sufficiently for a close-in shot, and called: „Oyster One
padlocked!" and fired a Sparrow. But, Pham Hung Son fired as well and
the shells from his three 30mm guns bridged the gap between him and
Lodge’s Phantom. The F-4 was hit and was losing speed, but initially
its crew thought they had escaped with minor damage. Both the pilot and
the RIO were disappointed at the sight of the lost AIM-7 and the MiG in
front of them separating away. Pham Hung Son closed and fired again,
and as more shells struck his aircraft, Lodge’s RIO, Captain Roger
Locher, realized what happened. The right engine exploded and the
Phantom began doing hard yaws to the right. Soon, all the hydraulics
were lost.

As Locher prepared to leave the falling Phantom, Captain Steve
Ritchie, flying as Oyster 3, had been chasing the remaining J-6 of
Nguyen Duc Tiem which continued almost straight ahead. Lacking visual
contact and action on radar information, Ritchie pulled up to the right
in a 4 to 5G turn. Rolling out at 18.000ft (5.500m) he finally sighted
his target almost 10.000 feet (5.500m) away to the left. He pulled to
the inside of J-6s turn, locking on his radar as he went. From a range
of 6.000ft (1.800m) Ritchie ripple-fired two Sparrows, both of them
guided. The first passed close under the target without detonating, but
the second scored a direct hit. From the rear seat of Oyster 03,
Captain DeBellevue caught a glimpse of a dirty yellow parachute of
Nguyen Duc Tiem as they passed the falling J-6.

Flying at 20.000 feet, two Phantoms of Balter flight arrived in time
to see the final moments of the fight, as Lodge’s Phantom plunged to
the earth like a meteor. Due to smoke nobody saw ejection of Captain
Locher. Shaken by the sudden loss of their leader, the survivors of the
Oyster flight sped away from the area. The first large clash of 10 May
1972 was over, but others were now to follow.”

Two MiGs

On July 8th, 1972, Captain Steve Ritchie of the 555th Tactical
Fighter Squadron, led a flight of four F-4 Phantoms, call sign "Paula,"
over the skies of Vietnam. With his Radar Intercept Officer, Capt.
Charles DeBellevue, he succeeded in shooting down two MIG-21's during
an engagement that lasted only one minute and twenty-nine seconds. The
following interview about that mission appeared on The History Channel,
“Weapons at War: The Aces:”

“The 8th of July mission was the most intense, the most exciting
mission that I ever flew. Everything worked. During that minute and 29
seconds I drew on all my life experiences. Every part of my training
and education came together in that moment and it worked. Few people
ever experience that moment where everything jells. It's a feeling that
is hard to describe.

“When the mission began, one of the earlier MiG CAP flights had been
hit by a MiG. He had broken formation and was headed out, bleeding fuel
and hydraulics. He was announcing his position, heading, and altitude
on the emergency frequency, a very bad idea, because the North
Vietnamese monitored the emergency frequency and when they heard a
cripple, leaving by himself, they sent MiGs after him. So we headed
toward the fellow that was in trouble, when ‘Red Crown’ and ‘Disco’
[RC-121 radar control aircraft] called additional MiG activity. You can
imagine the adrenalin was beginning to pump. I headed to low altitude,
and got ‘Heads Up’ call, which meant that the MiGs had us in sight and
they had been cleared to fire.

“I really began to look around at that point, because we didn't have
them in sight. I rolled out on an easterly heading and stayed there
about 8 seconds, when I got a call from ‘Disco’, 150 miles away
orbiting over Laos, looking at the whole ring of its radar scope. I
heard among the static: "Steve, 2 miles north of you." I made an
immediate left turn from my east heading to the north, picked up a
MiG-21 at 10 o’clock. Now, if I’d stayed on an easterly heading, the
MiG would have been right in my rear quarter, and I probably wouldn’t
be here to tell the story today.

“Pick it up at 10 o’clock, rolled left, dropped the external fuel
tanks with full afterburner. We passed about 1,000 feet from each
other. I could see the pilot in the cockpit. It was a bright,
spit-polished superb MiG-21, with bright red stars. When I saw the lead
MiG, the strong tendency was to immediately turn, to try to get an
advantage. I knew there were two, because they had called ‘Two Blue
Bandits.’ But I didn’t see #2. So, I waited, I rolled level, pushed the
nose over and waited. Sure enough, #2 came along about 8,000 feet away.
Immediately when he passe, I made a 135 degree turn, level, 90, 135,
flaps, nose down sliding turn about 6.5 g.”

[This last sentence is confused, as it was a TV interview. He used
his hands to explain his actions to the TV team, something very typical
for fighter pilots. Ritchie meant to say: “I started a turn of 135
degrees, I leveled waiting for the MiG #2, I rolled 90 degrees,
re-started the turn of 135 degrees, I engaged flaps and turned with my
nose slightly down, etc.”]

“I couldn’t see what was happening back over there. About half of
this turn, I began to roll out of the 135 degrees and as I rolled out
of 135 degrees I began to look back, thinking that they’re going to be
somewhere back around here [indicated a position at 4 o’clock] to my
great surprise I saw a MiG up over here [indicated a position at 9
o’clock], in the opposite direction of where I would expect the MiG
would be, because instead of turning to the left and going to this side
of the circle [indicated a counter-clockwise turn], they turned to the
right and went to this side of the circle [indicated a clockwise turn].
So, now I was in a position with my nose down, and the MiG was high, in
a right turn. I was in a left turn, so even if I pulled my nose up, I
would have had what is called a very hard angle off.”

[At this point Ritchie’s account was interrupted by a graphic and
narrator's explanation, saying that Ritchie solved his problem
performing a “Barrel-Roll”, and that this maneuver put him behind and
below the MiG.]

“The target was high in the blue sky, good for a radar lock-on. The
MiG saw us, turned down into us. I squeezed the trigger. The first
missile went to the center of the fuselage of the MiG and the second
missile went thru the fire ball. I felt a nice jump on the stick; a
piece of debris shaken up at the leading edge of the left wing.

“The lead MiG, the silver MiG, came all the way around the circle
and the other three airplanes of our flight were in trail, and then the
shiny MiG came on the position of #4, Tommy Feasel. I cut across the
circle and achieved a similar position now on the lead MiG that I had
on the wingman before, except the lead MiG was a lot better than the
wingman. He saw us, forgot about Tommy Feasel, started a hard turn into
us. We got a flat turning here, look like just maneuver the airplane.

“I put him in the gunsight, Chuck [Charles DeBelleuve, his RIO in
this mission] told me that he had a lock; that’s all I need to know.
Missile came off the airplane. It looked like a Sidewinder, it began to
snake and did not appear to guide, and I was telling it: ‘the target is
over here!’ Suddenly, the missile appeared to do a 90 degree right
turn, and it hit the MiG in the fuselage. The missile was pulling about
25 g and was accelerated about twelve hundred miles an hour when it
hit, so you can imagine the explosion.”

Ritchie left active service in 1974 and had a distinguished career
in the Air Force Reserve before retiring in 1999. With more than 3,000
flight hours, 800 combat hours, and decorations that include four
Silver Stars and 10 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Ritchie is a role
model and exemplar of what he would call his three Ds -- "duty, desire,
and determination."

The second of two books on the Navy's Phantom II MiG killers
of the Vietnam War, this book covers the numerous actions fought out
over North Vietnam during the Linebacker I and II operations of
1972-73. No fewer than 17 MiGs were downed during this period, five of
them by the Navy's only aces of the conflict, Lts Randy Cunningham and
Willie Driscoll of VF-96. Drawing on primary sources such as surviving
Phantom II aircrew and official navy documentation, the author has
assembled the most precise appraisal of fighter operations involving US
Navy Phantom II units and those elusive MiGs ever seen in print.